Wet wipes are known in the art as an implement for applying, removing, or simultaneously applying and removing substances to a surface. For example, wipes may be used to apply emollients and remove exudates from the skin when changing a diaper. Such wipes are generally provided in a package, which may be a soft-sided bag or envelope, or a hard-sided tub or box. A hard-sided tub or box may provide a convenient and aesthetically pleasing storage solution for regular use. A soft-sided bag or envelope may be used to store refill packages for a hard-sided tub or box. A soft-sided bag or envelope may also be used as a travel or convenience pack for irregular use. For example, a soft-sided bag may be kept in a diaper bag or vehicle for use when away from home.
A tub or box may include an orifice for “pop up” dispensing. Wipes inside the tub may be separate, individual wipes which are stacked or rolled in an interleaved configuration, or the wipes may be joined at perforation lines. The tub orifice may be designed to hold a portion of a wipe in an easily accessible position, and to separate the wipe from the next wipe in the stack or roll, such that as a wipe is removed from the orifice, a single wipe “pops up” to take its place in the easily accessible position.
Two common modes of failure of a pop up dispenser are daisy-chaining and fall back. Daisy-chaining occurs when wipes are not separated as they are pulled through the orifice, so that two or more wipes are dispensed when only a single wipe was desired. Fall back occurs when a wipe is not fully engaged in the orifice as the wipe ahead of it is removed, such that the “new” wipe does not remain in an easily accessible position, but falls back into the container. These failure modes are at least partially related to properties of the wipes—such as the force required to separate two adjoining wipes. However, the design of the dispenser can reduce or exacerbate the rate and degree of these failures.
These failure modes may be problematic for the end user, in particular when the wipes container is being operated with one hand. A user may need to access a wipe with one hand, for example, when trying to change the diaper of an active or fussy child. In such a situation, a caregiver may need one hand to secure and/or distract the child, while using the other hand to accomplish the diaper change, including opening the soiled diaper, accessing a wipe, cleaning the child, disposing of the soiled wipe and diaper, and applying a fresh diaper. Indeed, even before beginning to change a diaper, a caregiver may need one arm and hand to hold a child, while collecting supplies for a diaper change with the other hand. Of course, one-handed operation of a wipes container may be convenient even where it is not necessary.
Wipes tubs may be designed with attention to daisy-chaining and fall back, and particularly to mechanisms for recapturing a wipe after it has fallen back into the container. Tub designs may also address the need to retain moisture in wet wipes. There remains a need for a holistic tub design that provides convenient, one-handed operation from the time diaper change supplies are collected to the time the container is closed and/or put away.